A £10,000 reward has been issued to close the case of a girl from the North Peckham Estate ‘who disappeared off the face of the earth’ 25 years ago.
Carmel Fenech, also known as Carmel Pendry, was last seen at Camberwell Magistrates’ Court on May 21, 1998, with an unidentified man.
The sixteen-year-old moved with her family to Crawley in West Sussex but was back in the area when last seen in the company of the man.
“She never looked like she was on anything.”
Her family moved to the town from the North Peckham Estate, the previous year. Police fear she was murdered, although not one piece of evidence was ever found in relation to what happened to her.
Carmel developed a crack-cocaine habit at just 14 years old after someone introduced her to it on the estate.
“When you see typical druggies, they look all dishevelled,” Carmel’s mum, Deirdre Fenech explained.
“Carmel didn’t look like that. She never seemed like she was on anything. And she was never rude.”
Her mum said her habit meant she would often go missing – only not for long.
“Every time she’d pull a little disappearing act,” Deirdre explained, “someone would see her and call me.
“She’d always come back.”
But Deirdre said something was different about the last time. “By then, she’d started associating with crowds in different areas. No one around there knew us.”
Deirdre said when a week had gone by with no contact, she knew something had happened.
Crimestoppers are re-offering the £10,000 reward as her family continues to plead for answers.
“I’m not even looking for incrimination or punishment – all I want is answers,” Deidre said.
She admitted that with so much time passed and the lack of witnesses, the case was complicated. “Most of the girls who Carmel associated with back then are dead – lots of them overdosed. So they can’t be asked,” she said.
But she said that one person who may know what happened is the man she was last seen at the court with. “I’m angry that the police never questioned him properly,” Deidre told the paper. “He said he hardly knew my Carmel and just ‘felt sorry’ for her, but she was often found at his house so I think there’s more to it.
“I think he may have left the country,” she said when asked where this man was now.
Before her disappearance, Carmel spent most of her time in the Brixton and Stockwell areas, which led detectives to focus their investigation on south London.
The fact she lived and was known to go to different areas hindered the case, Deidre said. “When someone goes missing in one place but lives elsewhere, the case gets passed around and it slows it down.”
She added that flaws in the system could lead to certain kids slipping through the net. “Parents are trying to do the best for their kids but they come to a certain age and help is nowhere to be found.
“Between 16 and 18 when the kids are most vulnerable, there’s a gap and no one wants to deal with them.
“I tried my best to get help.
Deirdre remembers a time when Carmen had been done for petty theft to feed her habit – “I begged the judge to lock her up – anything to keep her safe.”
With four other children and now grandchildren, Deirdre said it was her family that had kept her going. “I would have given up a long time ago if it wasn’t for them. It’s been tough for my other kids too. Not only did they lose their sister – but I didn’t let them out of my sight when they were growing up. It changed the way I parented.”
For 25 years, the family haven’t been able to close the chapter, and as a result, Deirdre said there’s been no closure.
“She just disappeared off the face of the earth. That doesn’t just happen. Somebody out there knows. All I’m asking now is please look inside yourselves, you may have your own kids – if you know what happened, if you think you saw her, please. I need peace for Carmel.”
If anyone has information they are encouraged to get in touch or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Deirdre was recently featured on a heartbreaking podcast, The Missing, where she recounted the story in detail. Click here to listen on Spotify.
